Very linky!
A rare moment of morning sunlight… I am longing for Spring, aren’t you? Or do you live somewhere where it’s already been sunny and warm?
I have lots of links for you today! Be sure to click on them, because you won’t want to miss all my recommendations for your reading!
So let’s do a quick —
Bread Corner
If you implement my tips one at a time, you’ll be able to see improvement in your bread and understand a bit more about why these things help. If you click on the “sourdough tips” tag, it will take you to the posts.
I’m going in order of making the dough. Don’t be impatient! Little by little…
But I may circle back and go over previous steps…
But for now:
Try adding a bit of diastatic malt powder (I usually add 1 tablespoon for a batch of dough yielding 4 loaves as you see here) and barley malt syrup (1 tablespoon also).
(A bit the worse for wear at this point! You can buy them here)
Add a small portion of “scalded flour” or leftover porridge or cooked oats to your dough. Often I put 1/4 cup or so of semolina in a bowl and pour boiling water over it, whisking as I pour to avoid lumps.
Shortly thereafter, you can add some of your recipe’s cold liquid to that bowl, whisk, and add to your dough. A lot of the recipes that use this method have you wait until it cools, but that’s not necessary if you do it this way.
A small amount of dried milk powder whisked in at this point also makes the loaf’s crumb light and fluffy, but of course, then you have gone beyond the “flour, water, salt” formula for sourdough. Which is fine.
Here I made two sourdough loaves of the usual boule shape, and also made two sandwich loaves, just to have tucked in my freezer.
I don’t have a picture of the crumb of this bake, but it was among the best — I was so happy, because good bread is a delight and it gives great satisfaction to know how to make it!
Knitting CornerI am attempting my first stranded work, a pair of Selbu Norwegian mittens.
The learning curve is steep!
But I erred in that I carefully made a swatch but forgot that when I am using two different yarns, intertwined this way, the fabric will have a smaller gauge.
So these mittens are… small. I contemplated ripping them back and starting again, but I couldn’t bear it, so some little granddaughter is getting a fancy pair of mittens!
Okay, on to our links! Be sure to click them — they are so interesting this week!
bits & piecesGoing to church with little children — there are some things that are harder, but not many…
Anyone who knows Auntie Leila knows I hate LEDs in living spaces. This article tells why they are so bad (for one thing, who even knows how much light you are getting; for another, they suddenly work, but not at all well, and it’s impossible to tell when that will happen or even necessarily notice, except that your life is getting really dreary and people are depressed as soon as they walk in your house, but it’s fine, the government will take care of you) (I don’t agree with one assumption in the article, that the fact that incandescents’ energy in large part goes to heat is a terrible waste or pointless. It’s just how they work, and for most of the year, their heat, little as it is, is offsetting the heat needed otherwise, so it’s a wash, and on hot days we don’t turn our lights on anyway. Your oven “wastes” a lot of heat too, but I don’t think any of us are going to start making all our bread in the microwave or using the slow cooker exclusively! Our life would be so poor, bleak, and dreary!)
Speaking of churches, I look forward to visiting these magnificent temples
You know I love all things C. S. Lewis
I thought this essay was incredibly insightful. Sometimes an author just cuts to the heart of things….
from the archivesModesty is important, but let’s not go overboard
Consistency in discipline — put in the effort, see the results
follow us everywhere! share us with your friends!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available now from Sophia Press! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing!
My new podcast can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
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